12 JUIN 2017 NEWS: Midland - Louisville - Xiangfen - Eagle - Mijas -

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USA – Midland - The area of the Tridge has been a local attraction far longer than modern times, and an investigation into the past is aiming to uncover exactly what the area was used for thousands of years ago. Some of the clues — likened to having 50 pieces of a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle — were extracted from the earth this spring, near the Trilogy Skatepark and the footings of the M-20 bridge. The site is known as 20MD38, in archeologist speak. Among the items found at the site were projectile points, drills, pottery fragments, fire-cracked rock, flint chips and pieces of bone from deer, small mammals, turtles and fish, Schwarz said, pointing out an area of stained soil that actually was a fire pit. Robertson used a shovel to better expose the edge of the site, making it easy to see five layers in the soil — the uppermost being the parking lot, followed by two sets of a darker layer overtop of a lighter layer. All together, those bottom four layers represent different stages of a time interval termed the Woodland period. The site occupation is believed to date to between the years 600 and 1000, which is the Late Woodland period. Monaghan said the sites form through natural sediment accumulation, along with the things left behind by the people who used the land. Robertson pointed out the soil accumulation is complex and occurs at different rates, which results in soil layers and thicknesses that do not correspond one to one with periods of time.

BELIZE – Louisville - The Institute of Archaeology is reporting that a minor mayan site in the Corozal District has been ruthlessly looted. It's a large mound in Louisville Village where thieves have raided the site to get to the cut limestone blocks which they then sell to area residents. They also steal black soil form the area. NICH has been monitoring it for some months, and every time they visit, the site is closer and closer to being destroyed.

CHINE – Xiangfen - Archeologists have dated the ruins in the northeast of the Taosi relic site in Xiangfen County to around 4000 years ago. They are believed to provide important evidence of China's capital city system, officials from Shanxi institute of archaeology told Chinanews.com. "We've been exploring the southeast corners of the palace since 2017. Basically, this palace has been completely preserved. It demonstrates a self-contained system and rigorous structure, with outstanding defensive function. It's the earliest imperial city discovered in China so far", said Gao Jiangtao with the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Rectangular in shape, the site is about 470 meters in length from the east to the west, and some 270 meters in width from south to the north. Spanning an area of about 130,000 square meters, the palace is composed of a north wall, east wall, south wall, and west wall. Only the foundations of the city walls remain, although some corners which have also been destroyed. In ancient times, such imperial cities are indicative of a class division, with the living quarters of civilians separated from those of the royal family. Archeologists point out that the Taosi imperial palace may indicate the beginnings of the capital system in ancient China. The Taosi relics site covers an area of 3 million square meters. It is believed to be a settlement of the period of the five legendary rulers (2,600 BC-1,600 BC) in Chinese history.

USA – Eagle County - One of the oldest archaeological sites ever unearthed in Colorado was discovered on a sagebrush plateau in northern Eagle County 30 years ago this summer. In May 1987, a crew from Eagle-based Metcalf Archaeological Consultants discovered the Yarmony Pit House — a well-preserved archaeological site with much to tell about prehistoric life in Eagle County 6,000 years ago in the ranch country north of State Bridge. It was the find of a lifetime. Evidence collected at the site shows that Yarmony was inhabited thousands of years before the Ancestral Puebloans — Colorado's famed "ancient ones" — built their dwellings at Mesa Verde. The Yarmony discovery began as a routine dig. Eagle County was the client. Metcalf Archaeological Consultants was hired to conduct a cultural resource inventory required by the BLM in anticipation of widening and upgrading the Trough Road. Metcalf archaeologist Kevin Black, who recently retired as assistant archaeologist for Colorado, found some chipped stone flakes, a projectile point and some pottery shards in the proposed roadway. "Kevin made a good call about the need to do a test excavation at the site," Metcalf said. "I started digging, and it kept going down. I got pretty excited because of the nature of the fill." Early on, the crew knew Yarmony was special. Their excavation uncovered evidence of a prehistoric pit house — a dwelling space dug into the ground, with dirt walls. The structure had a roof, few remains of which were found, but it was likely a dirt- and brush-covered framework supported by poles set into the ground. There may have been a hole in the center of the roof to provide access into the dwelling and ventilation for the fire inside. Metcalf said the pit house was elaborately constructed and large. The house site covers 151 square feet. "Maybe Yarmony was the area's first trophy home — but it certainly wasn't a luxury home," he said. At 151 square feet, it would now be more in the tiny home category. Archaeologists have determined that Yarmony was used for winter habitation, and its dwellers obviously struggled to survive the cold season. The pit house has a series of deep storage-bin holes where inhabitants stocked food. Archaeologists had expected to find evidence of short-term prehistoric camping activities at the site. The scale of the finds changed abruptly when test holes indicated much longer-term use. The pit house offered archaeologists information about how its inhabitants lived: what they hunted and ate, how they built tools and how they adapted to the weather. It also shifted a long-held paradigm in the archaeological community, one that held that prehistoric peoples basically abandoned the high country during the winter season, moving to lower, more temperate areas. Metcalf believes Yarmony still holds information for future study when technological advances and more sophisticated questions warrant. "We are still fleshing out pit-house information. How Yarmony fits in is unclear," he said. "At some point, Yarmony will answer more questions."

ESPAGNE – Mijas -Archaeologists have broken ground at the site of the Costa del Sol’s proposed “Great Park,” seeing if they can find any Roman treasures. The technician responsible for the work, Juan Jose de la Rubia, explained “the work is divided into two phases.” The first is magnetic geophysical prospecting to obtain preliminary information to see if there are buried walls and then from there a radar survey will determine with much greater accuracy the existence of any archaeological remains. The work is expected to take around two weeks, depending on the results from the second stage of testing.